Adam Marblestone

Dr. Adam Marblestone is Chief Strategy Officer of Kernel, and a research affiliate with the Synthetic Neurobiology group at MIT. In his PhD as a Hertz Fellow in Biophysics at Harvard, with George Church and colleagues, Adam co-authored experimental and theoretical papers on molecular recording devices and road-mapped approaches for whole-brain mapping. He also participated in the development of new epigenomic readout technologies, genome engineering methods, nano-fabrication methods and nano-manipulation systems. More recently, he co-authored papers analyzing our understanding of cortical computation, seeking strategies to integrate deep learning and neuroscience, and proposing new designs for neural interfaces. In his work with Ed Boyden at MIT, he helped to initiate the field of optical connectomics using the combination of expansion microscopy, in-situ sequencing, and machine learning. At MIT, he was an investigator on an IARPA-funded project to map the neural connectome through in-situ sequencing of RNA barcodes. Prior to his work in brain science, Adam studied quantum nonlocality, showing how quantum entanglement can exponentially enhance certain forms of distributed computation, and assisted in the early development of caDNAno, a graphical software tool for design of 3D DNA origami nanostructures, now the standard for the field of structural DNA nanotechnology. He is also a co-founder of BioBright, a company aiming to create a "smart lab" to improve biological experimentation, and a scientific advisor to the Open Philanthropy Project and to OccamzRazor. Dr. Marblestone has also co-taught courses at the MIT Media Lab on Revolutionary Ventures: How to Invent and Deploy Transformative Technologies, and Cognitive Integration.